Craving is Like a Comet

“Oh good man! Why is it like a comet? For example, when a comet appears, famine and illness increases, and people become lean through illness and suffer from worries. The same goes for the comet of desire. It indeed cuts off all the seeds of good and makes common mortals suffer from loneliness, famine, and illness of defilement, causing them to recycle between births and deaths, and suffer from many sorrows. Only the Bodhisattva is not amongst these. This is why we say that things proceed as in the case of a comet.

Oh good man! There are these nine kinds of meditation on the bond of craving, to be made by a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva who abides in the teachings of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana.”
 

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 20 - On Holy Actions 2.

Craving is Like a Storm

“Oh good man! How is it the craving like a storm? For example, it's like when a storm shatters a mountain, erodes peaks and uproots deep-rooted trees. The same happens with the storm of craving. One [might] gain an evil mind against one's parents and uproot the root of Enlightenment (as deep) as of the greatly learned Shariputra, which is unsurpassed and firm. Only the Bodhisattva is not of this group. This is why we say that it (the craving) is like a storm.”

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 20 - On Holy Actions 2.

Craving is Like the Spongy Flesh of a Boil

“Oh good man! How is craving like the spongy flesh of a boil? When a boil exists for a long time, there comes about a spongy flesh. The person patiently tries to cure it and the thought about it never leaves his mind. If one allows it to leave his mind (forgets it), the spongy flesh increases and worms may come about. As a result, the person dies. The same occurs with the boils of common mortals and the ignorant. The craving grows as a spongy flesh. One has to make effort and heal this spongy flesh of craving. If one does not, when one’s life ends, the three unfortunate realms await one. But the Bodhisattva is not amongst these. This is why we say that (craving) is like the spongy flesh of a boil.”

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 20 - On Holy Actions 2.

Craving is Like a Maruka

“Oh good man! Why is craving like a maruka [wisteria] seed? For example, a bird can peck it and it can fall to the ground, amid the waste, or it can be carried by the wind to beneath a tree, where it grows and winds itself around a ficus (niagrodha), so that the tree cannot grow and finally dies. The same goes with the maruka seed of craving. It winds itself around the good done by common mortals and finally kills him. [The good] having died, it [the common mortal] ends in the three unfortunate realms, except for the Bodhisattva. This is why we say that the things which one gets are as in the case of the maruka.”

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 20 - On Holy Actions 2.

Craving is Like an Unpaid Debt

“Why do we say that craving is like an unpaid debt? Oh good man! For example, as in the case of a poor woman who has borrowed money from others and has to pay off the debt owed. She wishes to pay but cannot. She is sent to prison and cannot get free. The same is the case with Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas. As there is a remaining taint of craving, they cannot attain unsurpassed Enlightenment. Oh good man! This is why we say it is like an unpaid debt.”

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 20 - On Holy Actions 2.